TRAFFORD could clean up at this year's Manchester Food and Drink Festival, with four restaurants and a bar in the borough nominated for prestigious awards.

TRAFFORD could clean up at this year's Manchester Food and Drink Festival, with four restaurants and a bar in the borough nominated for prestigious awards.

Urmston restaurant Isinglass has been nominated for restaurant of the year, and One Six One in Hale is up for bar of the year. Dilli in Altrincham, Giraffe at the Trafford Centre and Samphire in Hale have all been nominated in the best provision for vegetarians category.

Giraffe is also up for the award for healthy and sustainable eating.

Julia Baginola, co-owner of Isinglass, says the nomination was completely unexpected: "It was a real surprise and very pleasing. It's really good for the staff to know that all their hard work is paying off.

"It's like the Oscars of the industry, really - it's the biggest award in Manchester.

"We don't go in for a lot of hype or PR, we just get on with cooking, so it's really pleasing that people have noticed us, and it shows that people in Manchester appreciate good food!"

Isinglass has been established for about three years and specialises in using only English produce. Julia said: "We don't use any ingredients that come from outside our shores, though we may occasionally stretch to using stuff from Scotland and Wales.

"The menu is totally seasonal - as soon as something stops being available here, we stop using it."

Julia co-owns Isinglass with executive chef Lisa Walker, who won chef of the year in Manchester a few years back.

Both Lisa and Julia retrained as chefs in their early twenties - Julia had previously worked in industrial marketing and Lisa was a criminal psychologist.

Ravi Bajaj is a co-director of Dilli and a chef there. The restaurant, which was established in September 2004, has been nominated for the past three years of the festival, but has not yet won anything.

He said: "We are pleased at the recognition of being nominated as it shows that we are going in the right direction."

Dilli is a herbivore haven, featuring an equal number of vegetarian and meat dishes on its menu.

Ravi said: "We also take into consideration if people are vegan or have any special dietary requirements. As long as they tell us when they arrive, we will be able to cater for them. People in the UK usually tend to think that all Indian food is very spicy, but that is not the case.

"There are a lot of vegetarian dishes in Indian cuisine, as many people in India are vegetarian and vegetables are easy to get hold of."

Trafford Council is urging residents to vote for the borough's restaurants by visiting www.foodanddrinkfestival.com/2007/vote.asp.

The winners will be announced on October 15.

Councillor Mike Whetton, executive member with responsibility for arts and culture, said: "We have a diverse range of food and drink and are proud to have such well-established and high-calibre venues."